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Dear Friends,

This week's Parsha – Parshat Bo –  begins with the last three plagues and continues with the exodus from Egypt. The Parsha includes all of the stories and the basis for the laws of Pesach. We’ve all learned the literal explanation for eating matzah: there was no time, in the haste to leave Egypt, for the bread to rise. 

Our Sages learn a deeper lesson from the unleavened bread. Leavening is associated with pride. Eating unleavened bread brings us back to the basics. It reminds us to be humble. The Jews who left Egypt needed this lesson to keep them aware that the miracles happening to them were not of their own doing, but Divine intervention. We today also have a lesson to learn from the matzah. We also need to be humble. We are not over anyone else, we need to listen to others and none of us have all the answers.

• • •

Humbling experiences and not having all of the answers is a good description of my first week as President. In addition to appointing Ellen Kamaras as Vice President and Celia Weintrob as Secretary, the Board also had to choose a new Treasurer after Deborah Ehrenberg's decision to step down. Deborah had suggested Steven Zucker as her replacement, a decision that was embraced unanimously by the Board. I am happy to report that Steve has tentatively agreed to serve. We are also working on hiring a bookkeeper to assist him, and  a secretary/office manager to assist the Rabbi, relieving him of much of the day to day tasks dealing with the Shul building and practical issues. Some other ideas in the pipeline include Rosh Chodesh BBQs, as soon as it gets a little warmer out, and a committee to review our voting protocols.

The decision was made to schedule Board meetings for the third Monday of the month at 8:45 every other month, beginning Jan 17. The minutes of the annual meeting as well as the brief meeting to appoint officers will be approved at that meeting and will then be shared with the membership. I will be sharing the agenda prior to the meeting. 

I have started meeting individually with members who have reached out to me, and I will continue to meet as well as invite other members to share their concerns with me. Whether I reach out to you or not, please contact me if you have anything on your mind or any ideas you may have. All constructive ideas as well as criticisms are welcome.

You can email me at president.bnaiavraham@gmail.com (or text or WhatsApp me at 917-620-8762) and I will get back to you as soon I can. 

Wishing all of you all a meaningful and peaceful Shabbos,

Steve Inker  

•Regular Shacharit time — 7:45 am — this Friday.

•In his weekly "This Week in Action" newsletter, Michael Bast reports:

Friday night is called Nittelnacht (“middle of the night”) when we stop learning Torah for about 8 hours, until midnight.  If I can get out of doing the dishes, I’m going to the Rabbi’s house to play chess.

Mincha and Maariv at shul begin at 4:30 pm.

Tuesday, Dec. 14, is Asarah B'Tevet (Tevet 10), a fast day.

•••The fast in Brooklyn Heights begins at 5:42 am and ends at 4:59 pm.

There will be a fast-day Mincha service at B'nai Avraham at 1:30 pm, and Maariv (followed by a break fast) at 4:50 pm.

(No 8 pm Maariv Tuesday night.)

Click here for information about Asarah B'Tevet.